Star Trek: The Animated Series - Nick Knacks Episode

In 1973, Gene Roddenberry and Filmation teamed up to make an animated sequel to Star Trek. What followed was a story of writers strikes, cheap animation, hurt feelings and colorblind directors. And despite all of that, it somehow came together and laid the groundwork for serious all-ages animated programming.
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[@Lynn17]

Ah, the good old days of fan campaigns. Back when their main purpose was "don't cancel the show" and not "make my OTP kiss or I'll make sure you never work in this town again."

[@melasnexperience]

“Fun” fact: L’Oreal bought Filmation solely as a tax write-off and deliberately shuttered them without notice the day before a law requiring 30 days’ notice of closure & payment of severance went into effect. Nice, huh? I could talk forever about Filmation; there’s so much more to them than janky animation, but no one ever wants to hear it. So I’ll stop.

[@Martialartfruituser]

...I want to hear more. (Animation history buff._)

[@Nickman826]

weren't they the gayest place to work for a good while?

[@TheEman590]

Don't stop. I'll listen all day.

[@OptimusShr]

Don't stop. Make a video. I guarantee you that there is an audience.

[@Elementa2006]

There are people who still like to trash them because of their animation like Ferris Wheelhouse aka. The Looney Tunes Commentary guy on KZbin, who considers Filmation as one of the factors that ruined animation.

[@47Cartoonguy]

Fun fact: Chuck Menville is the father of Scott Menville (Robin from Teen Titans Go, Red Herring from A Pup named Scooby doo)

[@jdenoe69]

Thank you Greg for giving the animated series justice.

[@toonezon4836]

Wait, He-Man was sold to L'Orel? Heh, with that hair, maybe he's born with it

[@toonezon4836]

@@matthewdaley746 aye, but look up the Matt Mercer loriel meme

[@barbarakirk3064]

Because he's worth it!

[@joncarroll2040]

He-Man is still owned by Mattel... But L'Oreal would have purchased the original Ghostbusters.

[@stephenholloway6893]

Yeah L'Orel bought the assets of the Filmation studios but not the characters that were already owned by other companies. However they did managed to have access to the HeMan series only at that point.

[@DLZ2000]

Lovely use of Trek music from throughout Star Trek's history. And as George said at the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner, his name is pronounced "Tah-KAY" as in "toupee."

[@doryna_sira]

"It's okay, to be Takei!"

[@leonbrownjr.2556]

A

[@RickFruckberry]

And Checkov's real name is pronounced Keen-ig.

[@doryna_sira]

For those who might be more interested in Filmation itself, I highly recommend Creating the Filmation Generation, which was written with Lou Scheimer's help. There's some interesting insight into the processes of how and why Filmation both animated and wrote their series, some very amusing tales (the one about Forrest Tucker injuring himself on Ghost Busters is definitely NSFW), and some interesting concepts that never made it into production, including projects they were working on when they were shut down. And it also answers the question: why did they get bought by L'oreal? A good read for animation fans in general and 70's and 80's kids specifically.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

If only Group W kept them afloat.

[@weirdotzero7065]

I have been cursed with this NSFW knowledge.

[@vgtrp]

Eventhough I watched Nickelodeon in the mid 80's, I didn't know the Star Trek Animated Series aired on Nickelodeon until I found promos for it a few years ago. I have seen a few episodes, and.though can be as silly at times like TOS, I think it's pretty solid. Also, who knew James Dooharn had such range, too bad he didn't get to use it much.

[@SAPProd]

I’ve recently ran through the Animated Series and I was blown away by the maturity and complexity of an animated series, one that adapted a previously live action series, in a time when the cartoons were incredibly silly and talked down to kids. In fact, Yesteryear and The Slaver Weapon are two of the best episodes of any Trek. Yesteryear’s handling of the loss of a beloved pet floored me, I couldn’t believe such an episode came from this. The Slaver Weapon was such a breath of fresh air, being the only episode of a TOS era episode (not counting the first pilot) to not feature Kirk at all and one of the few not to feature the Enterprise, and on top of that, Uhura and Sulu got moments to shine instead of serving to better the leads (I always noticed that Nimoy always did right by his co-stars). And tho Uhura spent most of the episode captive, she didn’t compose herself as a damsel in distress, but an officer captured, it was great; plus she got to lead the ship in The Lorelei Signal. Seriously, I get the animation was garbage, but this series didn’t fail in the writing. Every Trekkie should give this series at least one watch (it is the fastest series to watch, given both episode length and count).

[@huntercoleherr]

It is also canon, meaning that canonically, the Enterprise had a giant inflatable balloon decoy of itself on board, which is TOS goofball as hell.

[@queen_of_flatulence]

"A Vulcan named Steve" made me laugh

[@pronkb000]

Classic Vulcan Steve.

[@bobacrey1068]

I bet it was S'Teve in the original script but the apostrophe got missed out when they typed it up

[@mattperiolat]

I’m actually really interested how Nick got the rights. I remember an ad, I think in 1985, where they hard sold that animated Star Trek would be on the Network “for one week only”! When you’re a kid, you remember that. Makes you wonder about what the original plan was and what the response was.

[@Tricob1974]

I've found that unexplained re-airings of shows (and even TV specials) come about either because someone involving the property died (Remember all those TV specials of The Carpenters re-airing in 1983?), or the network made a deal with the product owners involving several different properties at once, and this show was one of them. With how secretive the reasons of this show are, I suspect some sort of contract was silently cancelled, and rights of the property either defaulted to Nick or were bought out by them.

[@Tricob1974]

Now that I think about it, if the licensing was only supposed to last ten years after the first episode, a bidding war for this show's rights makes sense.

[@barbarakirk3064]

John Kricfalusi was always slagging off Filmation on his blog for their limited animation/bland faces, but I hadn't known that Hal Sutherland was colour-blind.

[@rmyers99]

Someone notify Mike Stoklasa of Red Letter Media! This video is great as usual, poparena. Keep it up. Can't wait until you do a Turkey Television episode.

[@Elementa2006]

The animated was my introduction into the lore of Star Trek, when an Arabic dub of the show aired on Egyptian television during the 90s, so I'm glad it's getting more love and is pretty much acknowledged as TOS' fourth season.

[@1dbanner]

I LOVE the animated Trek, and it was the first experience I had of Star Trek, and I watched it on its original Nickelodeon run. You're right about it crossing over demographics, this should've been a Nick at Nite lead in show

[@wkanost]

I was so excited for this show to air! I’d read about it in my “Weekly Reader” at school. Drawing the Enterprise was a full time hobby of mine in 1973. An animated series was right in my ballpark. It was not over my head. The higher concepts were serious but so was the original show. Great memories!

[@ericariley1696]

At 5:21, insert Homer Simpson dancing (to "Sugar Sugar") here. (Sorry had to do it.)

[@MrMatteNWk]

Water water everywhere, so let's all have a drink!

[@GeekFilter]

Hi, I am one of the co-authors of the animated series episode guy that you quoted. Hal was *mildly* color blind from what we have heard from people who worked directly under him-He totally can tell the difference between something being pink and not but he just wasn’t the one who made the decision about whether it should be that color or not. Roles at Filmation were very regimented. You couldn’t just walk into the colorist office and ask them what was going on you basically had to send a memo and go through a process.

[@kootunesscrewy]

I don't really judge about colors in animation, tbh (unless they change them in a bad way like those post-Season 5 episodes of Oggy and the Cockroaches or if they made way too much bright colors like that terrible Problem Solverz series.)

[@AlexanderJWei]

Nice work! I was too young to see all of TOS on the first run. One I have a clear memory of seeing was "Catspaw ", the one you mentioned about witches. But I made contact with and became a steady customer of Roddenberry's side hustle, Lincoln Enterprises, which sold scripts, tribbles, insignia, whatever would make money. And I believe I saw nearly all of the animated series first run. I thought it was great. You see, one way to characterize SF fans is are they East Coast, or concept fans, or are they West Coast, or visual fans. I consider myself solidly in the concept group. For us, if the ideas are well spelled out and considered, how cool it all looks is secondary. Whereas, for a visual type, if what is shown looks cheesy, the thing is considered a failure. In that respect, the animated series did as well as TOS did. In fact, as you note, there were things the animation could do that no live show of the time could do. Again, thanks for your excellent review! Good memories!

[@brutalboy1000]

What does Lucifer need with a starship?

[@JessicaKasumi1990]

Star Trek V reference, huh?

[@JessicaKasumi1990]

@@matthewdaley746 Of course not, just like we don't bring up Generations.

[@JessicaKasumi1990]

@@matthewdaley746 Especially that 2002 trash.

[@zvimur]

The same thing Apollo needed.

[@vegetafan9922]

I've only seen the original series and the next generation so I too am wondering why the angel of darkness needs a starship.

[@jacobdodd9065]

My late mom (being a Trekkie herself) stayed on the positive side of this show and so did I.

[@MultiTomcat67]

I liked reading "The Magics of Megas Tu" but missed the animated versions of it and many others. Thx for so much background of Star Trek.

[@DennisTamayo]

It aired on Nickelodeon, years before Viacom (now Paramount Global) acquired Paramount Pictures in 1994.

[@NextWorldVR]

This is excellently done, thank you!

[@FyreWulff]

I never knew Doohan had so much skill as a voiceover actor.

[@ShadowWingTronix]

He also played the commander in the live-action Jason of Star Command and I think he did some other voice work. George Takei and Leonard Nimoy have also done voice work beyond this, Takei in a number of productions (some of his early work was also in movie dubbing) and Nimoy even starting his own audio drama group for a while.

[@dngillikin]

In the live-action episode "The Ultimate Computer," in addition to portraying Scotty, Doohan provided the voice of the M-5 Computer, the radio voice of Commodore Enright at the space station at the beginning of the episode, and the radio voice from Starfleet Command that orders the remainder of Commodore Wesley's taskforce to destroy the Enterprise.

[@ShadowWingTronix]

Voice acting is also a good way to get out of typecasting. It worked for Mark Hamill when he was stuck as Luke Skywalker and for Adam West, even if two of his voice roles were also Batman.

[@tabbysmithfield3794]

Doohan got the job as Scotty because he could do several different accents. Seems logical a voiceover talent would follow.

[@timsmith2525]

The amazing thing is that you can't tell it's Doohan. I always recognize the other actors' voices in TAS, but even when I know it's Doohan doing the voice, I still can't tell.

[@ronnroden7028]

this was awesome. thank you. i used to watch this as a kid. i am 50 now. i always used these two seasons, 22 episodes as canon for the final 2 years of the 5 year mission. I wrote a book, and they loved my idea, also included some books.

[@jomama900]

I knew just about everything about ST:TaS before watching this. A ton of info and NEW MATERIAL was compiled by Curt Danhauser on his site. I've listened to every episode of Saturday morning trek by Aaron Harvey on trek FM.( you might say I'm a fan...) Props on having two things I've never seen before: 1) the Nickelodeon commercial for ST:TaS and 2) the promo shot for ST: Academy. Good episode!

[@BubuBORG]

It’s kind of cool that as of this date (2022) Nickelodeon has finally gotten an original Star Trek show with Prodigy.

[@devinsmith4790]

McCoy: Jim, there's something about these tribbles. Kirk: Later Bones. Get the f*ck off my chair!

[@PKSandman]

Next episode: the Jay North "OH NO~!" Zone.

[@maieen2665]

COOLRUNNER87 I watched the E! True Hollywood Story about him, and as Greg said, it’s pretty dark. :/

[@GeekFilter]

Thanks for the shout out to our book! I don’t know how I didn’t see this sooner. And Rich’s last name is pronounced Shep-is 😉

[@funnypicturescomics]

POPARENA! I just discovered your channel a few days ago...AND I LOVE IT! I've been watching EVERYTHING! Your retrospectives of the old NICK shows I watched and loved as a kid are amazing! GREAT STUFF!!!!

[@JasonStillwell]

Star Trek: Lower Decks references SO MANY THINGS from this series. Its great.

[@JasonStillwell]

They even have a giant spock skeleton in the background of an episode.

[@briangressett902]

Star Trek the animated series was my jam on Nickelodeon in the 80s. I was watching TOS for the first time during the same time as well. TOS would air at 11pm at night on an Independent network. It was past my bedtime but the tv channel's audio aired on a radio station signal. So I'd lay in bed tv on but audio off and my handheld radio headphones on watching TOS every weeknight before bed. Then the Animated series on weekends. That was the life.

[@ILikeMints]

one of my favorite things about this series is that i'm pretty ambivalent to star trek as a property, but i clicked on this immediately because i know your videos are always incredibly well-researched and super engaging.

[@danom3572]

I like the 6 cell process, but when i was a kid only rich kids had big color tvs the rest of us still had tiny black and whites...and like the blocking in dragnet in the fifties, was perfect for a tiny screen....

[@bradfordhatch5085]

A series that deserves faar more love and respect than it gets. Imo it contributed greatly to keeping the dream of Star trek alive during the dark decade of the 1970s when nothing else was available but poor-quality paperback novels and even poorer quality comic books (sorry Gold key; I love many of your other comics).

[@biabarreto1434]

That anti-litter PSA was a perfect opportunity for a Garbage Trek reference, Greg!

[@sandradermark8463]

The Backyardigans episode?

[@MrMatteNWk]

Of course Bill Shatner's name in the intro is in large text...

[@GoingRampant]

Woo! Nick Knacks! Awesome, I was feeling down in the dumps, and now I've got a new episode! And It's Star Trek! 7:38 - It is not pronounced "George Tak-eye". It is pronounced "George Tak-ay", as in "Toupee" or "Too gay". (He reportedly says this every time someone mispronounces it.)

[@dngillikin]

Larry Niven's surname is also pronounced with a short I sound, rather than the long I sound our host gives us.

[@animefan25]

James Doohan portrayed a Klingon? Talk about irony since his words helped Marc Okrand develop the Klingon language.

[@tomlemery8490]

I never knew the Animated Series was on past the 70's. Not sure if the rabbit was Doohan, but know that he did many voices.

[@AnAverageGoblin]

Steve the Vulcan is the only person capable of defeating Thanos in a hand to hand fight

[@Nickman826]

Honestly having watched it all on CBS All Access for the first time it's a really fun Trek show. Certainly better than Enterprise and maybe Voyager

[@altha-rf1et]

No but better then Discovery,, anything is better then Discovery.. Star Trek Continues is better then Discovery

[@pacetti07]

Nicolas Young If you check on KZbin there are two animated STAR TREK fan films titled STARSHIP FARRAGUT. Featuring a different ship, and crew they are done in the FILMATION animation style. Check them out they are very well done.

[@frankberst9849]

Anything's better than the stuffy, stilted, silly, sanctimonious, ridiculously one dimensional TNG. Never could stomach Picard & Company.

[@Dariushellstrome]

I saw the animated show after watching reruns of TOS. One of the episodes that I thought was strange was Slaver Weapon. Latter in life I got into an author named Larry Niven who as it turned out wrote that episode knowing that none of his Known Universe stuff would ever be adapted to any other media he grabbed that show and just slid one of his short stories in it. Only the 3 characters from Star Trek weren't his.

[@funnypicturescomics]

I saw a few episodes of Star Trek: The Animated Series when it was originally released. But It was catching it on NICK that I began to watch every episode.

[@willmistretta]

The animation was indeed very, very cheap. Still, the fact they retained story editor D.C. Fontana and many of the same writers from the live action show made it easily the smartest tv cartoon made up to that point. You go back and watch basically any of those other shows name checked in the first few minutes of this video and you'll see what I mean.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Chuck and Len (writers) are also famous for a series of short stop-motion films they made in the 60's including "Vicious Cycles", "Stop, Look and Listen" and "Blaze Glory". I believe Nickelodeon ran Vicious Cycles on it's later show Turkey Television.

[@zoppie]

Not all of Filmation's animation was bad. They did a Flash Gordon TV movie that was a visual treat.

[@meyerj75]

One kitchen manager I used to work for claimed that Star Trek: The Animated Series was the greatest saturday morning cartoon show of all time. Based on everything I've seen so far, I have to agree.

[@justinstewart8954]

One episode of this show-the one at 31:10-had a few scenes that made me wonder if it inspired part of that really famous Alien movie. ( The one from 1979 with Sigourney Weaver. ) They both start off with a giant abandoned spaceship with a dead extraterrestrial in it.

[@BubuBORG]

I made sure that I included the Animated Series when I planned my current Star Trek watch. Thankfully, Netflix is hosting the episodes, seemingly in HD.

[@MaskmanCor]

Just putting it out there that the Star Trek Animated Series did air in my area before Nickelodeon. Either late 70s or very early 80s channel 48 (the old one) in the Philadelphia area. I watched it and other filmation cartoons on sunday mornings. Ironically later in the day the TOS aired, and that's how I first got into Star Trek.

[@xaenon]

It began airing in like 1974 on Saturday mornings, and was in reruns until 1980 or so. It vanished for a while, resurrected briefly on one of the networks (still NBC, IIRC), then popped up on Nickelodeon for a couple of years.

[@jimmymelendez1836]

@@xaenon It was 1973.

[@elm9257]

Star trek the animated series, where the only thing more repetative than the animation is the music. I also think it treated its female characters better than the original series, possibly because it was aimed at children and had to be 95% less horny. Great video, very informative.

[@Doomslayer-85]

The music is insufferable to me and the main reason I can't accept this series as canon. It's just not worth the ear pain.

[@lewi7275]

ActuallyChannel 6 in Philadelphia the ABC affiliate Philadelphia aired the animated Star Trek series from the minute it was canceled on NBC up until the time of the motion pictures release but only Saturday morning at 10 o’clock to 1030 from 1970 for up to 79 when the motion picture was released

[@LikaLaruku]

I don't EVER remember this being on Nickelodeon, or I would have watched it. It must have been on at prime bike riding hours. ::Looks up 1985 cartoons:: Oh shit, there was a lot of good cartoons on other channels that year. I was probably watching 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo, Gummie Bears, Care Bears, Robotech, JEM, Wuzzles, or Rainbow Brite.

[@Tacom4ster]

Trivia, Nick Ninja Turtles references and spoof the show, which was a highlight for me

[@PinkieLopBun]

That book on this show came out just in time.

[@TheEman590]

I'll say.

[@radionoakmont7756]

i saw some of the episodes back in 79 i was 3 then but remember it as if it was this morning, as a kid i was and still heavy into sci fi tv and movies even old radio serials, classic star trek as well the animated series too i know i was very young but i fell in love with LT. M'RESS the Caitian cat girl just instant connection had me smiling everytime i saw her, later on a good middle to high school friend of mine gave me a set of novels that was novelization versions of the series had so much more in book form this series introduced the Caitians, and Kzenti as well and Ursinoids, i really liked it sometimes mom would get a lil mad at me for watching only that and asked why don't you watch sesame street i go i do but i love sci fi more much more interesting stories and adventure and to this very day i still have a place in my heart for LT. M'RESS oh and Lucien is a Satyr not the devil in any way, Mayan is Central America no south American Native American's i always thought to myself mankind really built all of the structures themselves it would be as if aliens do come to earth now and see people is now and say they could not have built these cities by themselves they had help no it was us dear alien friends it takes hard work and genius working together to create something amazing like the ancient wonders to masterpieces of today and yet to come, also if back then if Filmation had a much bigger budget with better equipment this series would have exploded outdoing the Simpson's run 2 to 3 times over it would have been Viacom buying Marvel and other big name companies by now but then again the complainers would be screaming left n right instead of our world ruled by a mouse it is ruled by a starship, that society for ya m8, which would have changed so many events in our history as a whole over the 50 or more years what if as they say Fascinating captain, but man i love this video this series is amazing it inspired so much and hope it inspires so much more, live long and prosper.

[@madhat2k]

I was aware of Star Trek through this show airing on Nick before I even knew there was a live action version as well.

[@EugenioAngueira]

Nice video! Well done and very informative. I am among those who loves TAS. How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth is one of my most favorite episodes of the series.

[@earlsmith7428]

Should have lasted more than twenty two episodes. For it's time, it had amazingly good writing, and while others have mentioned that the animation was cheap, I found it colorful and beautiful. NBC should have invested more into Filmation's Star Trek, and got away from stock footage.

[@janetcraft]

Thank you for your analysis on this show. I enjoyed all the Stat Trek animated shows. I also have all the collection of the paper back novels by Alan Dean Foster. Volumes 1-10. Long Live and Prosper.🌙

[@Biochemitra]

Trek is one of those things I like to just turn out the lights late at night, chill in bed, and put on. It's a relaxing kind of intrigue.

[@fryoung1]

Wow, the many voices of James Doohan!

[@jenniferschillig3768]

He got to sing in "The Lorelei Signal"...he had a NICE set of pipes!

[@danduranduran]

I have to strongly disagree about the animation style. Yes, stylistic choices were made in order to save time and money, but they were valid choices and it was executed brilliantly. Employing economy of line is not bad technique, just like the heavy rendering and shading isn't necessarily good, in fact it's often over used to cover up bad drawing and animation. Just look at Batman the Animated Series. Filmation was not only able to seamlessly translate the live action show into animation, but they were also able to very effectively nail the likenesses of all the real human actors, which is masterful. As someone who's taken many years of life drawing, I've often used this show as a reference because the drawing and anatomy are so solid. The motion may have also been simplistic and was certainly recycled, but it was also accurate, which is a very difficult feat. You're probably right about zooming in to crop out mistakes, but it added drama without having to increase the budget or move the deadline. A cheap trick, but it worked. It has a pop art quality that didn't happen by accident. This was an expertly crafted show made on a limited budget, a huge achievement.

[@Felchenstien]

Think of it as an awesome, well-written radio drama with some illustrations that occasionally have some movement to them thrown in as a bonus and it works great!

[@thepantweaver]

Rerelease it as a podcast.

[@andrejg4136]

And now I'm reminded of motion comics. Where it's basically voiced over stills, but some of the 'critical scenes' are animated, to varying quality depending on who is funding it.

[@KellyClowers]

And yeah the canonical(!) overlap of ST and KS is wild to us fans

[@ShadowWingTronix]

I can confirm that Star Trek did air in syndication. I first saw it on a local channel, although I don't remember if I saw it before the original live-action series or not. You mean a show where the Devil is just a fun-loving guy in a kids show got those who see him as a evil deceiver dragging our souls to hell upset? You're kidding. Thank you for championing the writing, which has always been my defense of Filmation. The art is also good even if the animation itself is admittedly weak. I know on He-Man the storyboard artists would work to get as much original animation in there as they could but the stories and how the limited animation was used always made up for any shortcomings. (Not counting specific moments of course, but nobody has a 100% on that.)

[@joncarroll2040]

It's a shame Nichelle Nichols didn't do more voice work. She was really good at it.

[@NextWorldVR]

Yeah. She had such a warm melodious voice...

[@sonicathehedgehog7488]

I am new to star trek but it's so interesting that they had a cartoon

[@danaeiler4563]

Just finished binge watching the eniter series on Netflix. Great show with some fantastic episodes!

[@albion65]

The animated series universe recently had a comic book crossover with the Transformers! In it the autobot Fortress Maximus took on a new alternate mode of THE ENTERPRISE!

[@calvinlweir2795]

The animated series came out after TOS was cancelled. This was an incredible filler. We thought there was NOT GOING TO BE ANOTHER. It has earned a place in History.

[@avidnongetit8710]

Very well done! I always wondered how such a horrible studio drew so many famous shows soooo terribly! Boy they had good ideas drawn awfully.

[@jenniferschillig3768]

Filmation's shows that were based on live-action properties had one thing in common--good writing to contrast with its limited animation. Tarzan was probably closer in sensibility to the Edgar Rice Burroughs stories than most of the Tarzan movies that came before it--and Tarzan actually spoke perfect English, as he grew to in the books, and not this "me Tarzan" business. The Lone Ranger had William Conrad voicing the Ranger (under a pseudonym) and based every episode around a real historical character or event. (And, I believe, was the first incarnation of the show to have Tonto speaking perfect English as well.)

[@mego73]

Jimmy Doohan worked in radio and knew all about doing varied voices.

[@tomwaterwitch]

The Animated Series also got references in Lower Decks as well!

[@KinseySwartz]

I'm pretty sure that Star Trek TAS was never in syndication before Nickelodeon acquired the rights to it. I watched it as a very young child when it was first released as a Saturday morning cartoon. Once it was finished, it just disappeared and was quickly forgotten. I never saw it rerun and never heard it spoken of again until the DVD was released around fifteen years ago.

[@VampXilla]

Lucien would be considered a Satyr. A Pan from Greek and Roman mythology. Nuff said sugars!

[@radionoakmont7756]

exactly what i was saying as a small kid i read a lot about the ancient mythologies of the world a life long fave subject of mine glad you see Lucien as a Satyr as well.

[@Seemsayin]

By today's standards, Filmation couldn't shine anyone's shoes. But, if you're a Trek kid, back in 1973... this was the sh!t! I remember when this cartoon was being promoted for Saturday mornings. I could not believe it. I believe it got the 11 am slot. I lived for Saturday morning cartoons. But, I had to beg my mother to let me watch it, cuz she hated it that I spent the first half of the day watching tv. Bugs Bunny was at least an hour/and a half. And there was NO WAY I was missing that. Loved that show! Still watching it on Paramount Plus.

[@antoniod]

Imagine the lead characters being made into a rock group!

[@mightyfilm]

Comment on a 2 year old video here, but... I'm surprised there's no mention of the other impact Nickelodeon had on this show. A parody version of the series was heavily featured in the first Nick version of TMNT. And I mean heavily. The first season had the turtles watch segments from "Space Heroes" in certain episodes (every season featured a new parody cartoon), as well as it being Leo's favorite series, and a pinball machine based on that cartoon was a background fixture for most of the series. The last season even featured a 90's made Space Heroes The Next Generation cartoon.

[@karlbielman6814]

It was on WKBD out of Detroit 1979-80 era. Packaged with Brady Kids if I remember correctly.

[@calvinlweir2795]

The Animated series wa and is a classic. Always will be.

[@voltronik9141]

Amazing voice acting from James Doohan!

[@LikaLaruku]

Oooh! I know why L'Oreal would have wanted the rights to Filmation. You have seen those little baby shampoos with with Batman, Spider Man, Elsa, & Spongebob toy lids, right? That's why.

[@Love1nOther]

For the algorithm!

[@greeremalachi926]

Animated Star Trek was really good. It's the stories that made them good (great), the close ups, the colors were secondary.

[@kootunesscrewy]

You know, even if Filmation didn't had that much money to make proper limited animation, no matter what, I still find it creative as Hanna Barbera's. 34:29 Well, at least Pinky did got his two Oscars.

[@kleybeenromero7991]

Dont ever forget star trek to the next generation and Deep space nine and Star trek Voyager. And Star trek Enterprise And Star trek Discovery

[@only257]

Agreed 🎥

[@leomartin1603]

James Doohan DID have great voice range.

[@jenniferschillig3768]

Surprised you didn't mention that weird moment at the end of The Infinite Vulcan where Sulu, briefly possessed by the spirit of Clark Kent, winked at the camera. :-)

[@hezekiahramirez6965]

A lot of people seem to say "can't be understated" when they mean "is tough to overstate." An understatement undervalues the thing being remarked upon. So if you say it can't be understated you're saying it doesn't exist. What you mean to say is that any appraisal you have is likely not to overvalue the thing you're appraising. Saying something can't be overstated is illogical except when you're talking about the concept of infinity so you really mean to say that overstating your case would be difficult because, in this case, the impact of animated Trek was substantial and long lasting.

[@blissmaster71]

I remember watching TAS when I was really young, so they must have shown reruns circa late 70’s in Chicago

[@Monkofmagnesia]

I watched the "Animated Series," when it first aired. The final episode did not have Kirk in it at all! It was Spock, Sulu and Uhura on a shuttle mission. One of the guest stars was Ed Bishop, who played the Moon Base commander on the Gerry and Sylvia Anderson television series, UFO (he played he pilgrim dressed leader on Magics of Mengus Two. I believe the reason it lasted only two seasons was because it was not written for children at 8:30 in the morning. However, since the original series was only three seasons, the two seasons of the cartoon completes the "five year mission." I have them on DVD. The Enterprise meeting God was in the original script Roddenbury submitted for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. It was rejected by Paramount because they wanted "something bigger!" WHen the Paramount executive said, "I thought you were a writer," Rodenbury replied, "I am. I do not knpw what you are."

[@thewewguy8t88]

side not its hard to beleive that a show like riverdale is based on the archies.

[@thewewguy8t88]

@@matthewdaley746 i kind of like the song sugar sugar. that being said people seem to act like oh in generation we had the beatles which everyone says is one of the greatest bands of all time. and i personally have no real interest in any song they ever made. music is a complicated topic for me though. at least i have not really heard a single song that from them i enjoyed.

[@thewewguy8t88]

@@matthewdaley746 so I am guessing you think the Beatles are not as great as everyone says they are.

[@ShiaKorchin-i3f]

Yes, I remember this series!😊

[@CinnamonGrrlErin1]

I'd love to see Adam Reed give this the Sealab treatment.

[@traviskemp5408]

Very interesting! I remember seeing "Star Trek: The Animated Series" on Nickelodeon when I was little. In fact, I believe it was my first introduction to the "Star Trek" franchise. In case you haven't thought about it already, how doing an episode about "Inspector Gadget"?

[@dngillikin]

I became a fan of live-action Trek in 1972 (a couple of years after my mother tried to interest me in it at a too-young age), and from 1973-75, I watched both live-action and animated Trek. In my market, we went through a Trek -drought between late '75-79 - an eternity for a kid - and I could only watch Star Trek when we traveled far out of our market for vacations.